Faith in Humanity...

Tess met the Easter Bunny the other day.

Sheila and I had taken the kids (Blake, Bobby, Ellie and Tessie) to the mall to shop for the afternoon. In the middle of the mall there was an Easter display complete with the Easter Bunny and kids could have their photos taken sitting on his lap.

In the past I have tended to shy away from this type of thing with Tessie because it can be awkward to try to explain to the person in the costume how they have to hold Tessie and that she can't talk and I worry that they might not grasp the severity of her disabilities and could drop her or, and for whatever reason, I think to myself, "What if they aren't comfortable holding her and wish I wouldn't have her do it?". That is the biggest issue if I am to be brutally honest.

"What if they don't like her?"

But, I am pleased to report that I am getting past some of my issues and I marched right on up with Tessie to that Easter Bunny and very quietly leaned in and simply asked them if they were okay with her sitting on their lap or would they prefer her next to them in her stroller (I did go through the explanation of her disabilities) ?

The Easter Bunny assured me that they were absolutely fine with having her on her lap (it was actually a woman) and then went on, when they saw my fear about Tessie getting dropped, and told me that she actually worked with kids with special needs.

Their are no words to describe the relief that I felt. This person had no qualms whatsoever and was so incredible with Tess. I had Blake, Bobby and Ellie get in the photo as well and they all worked to try to coax Tess to look at the camera.

Let's just say, getting a really good picture of Tessie is a trick and a half, especially when she is as enthralled with something as she was that bunny. She just could not stop looking at it and touching it's "fur" and it's pretty bow tie (I think she even leaned in to try to kiss her at one point). It was beyond adorable.

We got a semi-decent photo fairly quickly and so we had Tessie say good-bye to the Easter Bunny and put her back in her stroller while they waited for me to pay. During this time Tessie started screeching her happy sounds and kept looking over at the bunny. She just loved it! And Tessie can get LOUD when she feels so inspired.

After I paid we waved one last good-bye and continued shopping. A little while later, the Easter Bunny was going on a break and was walking through the mall and saw Tessie and made a beeline right for her. Tess was so excited. The bunny played with Tess for a minute before continuing on.

About a half hour later someone came up to me and tapped me on my shoulder. "Are you the mother to the little girl named Tess?" I was sort of taken aback but nodded and said yes. She then went on to tell me she was the woman in the Easter Bunny costume and how happy she was that we brought Tess in to have a picture with her and how beautiful she thought Tess was.

Talk about making a mother feel good! I felt like skipping I was so happy. I smiled and thanked her profusely for her kindness and her taking the extra time for Tess. She informed me that she was thrilled to have been able to do it.

So I guess the point of my little rambling today is, never lose your faith in humanity.

Or the Easter Bunny.....